Pardon My Gun (1930) Review - A very weird Western musical

If you are looking for a gritty, serious Western, do not watch 1930’s Pardon My Gun. You will probably hate it within five minutes. But if you like seeing how Hollywood struggled to figure out sound movies, it is a total trip.

It is mostly for people who find the early 1930s charmingly clunky. If you want actual cowboy action, maybe go watch Sky High Corral instead. This one is more of a variety show wearing a cowboy hat.

The plot is basically nothing. Ted (played by Tom Keene, who was calling himself George Duryea back then) is a rider for Pa Martin. There is a big race coming up, and the villainous Cooper wants to win it by cheating. Classic stuff.

Harry Woods plays the villain, and he has that great, mean face from the old days. He just looks like he wants to kick a dog. He kidnaps Ted to keep him out of the race, which is a pretty standard move for a B-movie from this era.

Then there is Peggy. She overhears the bad guys talking and decides to take matters into her own hands. I actually liked Peggy. She isn't just sitting around waiting for a hero; she actually does the rescuing.

The weirdest thing about this movie is the music. It features the Abe Lyman Orchestra. Why is a full jazz orchestra hanging out at a ranch in the middle of the desert? Nobody knows. They just start playing, and the movie turns into a musical for a while.

It feels like two different movies were smashed together by accident. One is a Western about a horse race, and the other is a Broadway review. It is very disorienting.

The sound quality is... not great. You can hear the hiss of the old recording equipment through the whole thing. Sometimes the actors speak so slowly you think they forgot what comes next. This was common back then because they were terrified of the microphones.

The horse race at the end is supposed to be exciting. But honestly, it looks like they are galloping at about five miles per hour. The camera just stays still while they pass by. It’s not exactly The Fast and the Furious on horseback.

I noticed one guy in the background during the ranch scene who looked incredibly bored. He was just leaning against a fence, probably wondering when lunch was. I felt for that guy.

There is a scene with some dancing that goes on way too long. It feels like they were just trying to fill the runtime because the script was only ten pages long. It reminded me a bit of the pacing in Pas paa pigerne, where the plot just stops for a song.

Tom Keene has this very stiff way of moving. He looks like his shirt is about three sizes too small. But he has a nice smile, which I guess is why he kept getting work in these things.

The dialogue is pretty cheesy. "I'll get you for this, Cooper!" is basically the vibe of every conversation. It’s simple and easy to follow, even if you’re half-asleep while watching it.

One thing that really stood out was the hats. Every cowboy has a hat that looks like it could double as a satellite dish. They are massive. I don't know how they stayed on during the "fast" horse riding scenes.

If you have seen Desert Valley, you know how these cheap Westerns usually go. They have a predictable rhythm. But the orchestra in this one really throws a wrench in the gears. It’s so bizarre that it’s almost worth watching just for the confusion factor.

The ending is exactly what you think it is. Everything gets wrapped up in about two minutes. There is no real tension because you know Ted is going to make it to that race. Spoilers? Not really, it's 1930.

Random Notes from my notebook:

• The Abe Lyman guys look like they’d rather be in a smoky club in New York.
• The villain’s mustache is 10/10 for evilness.
• I think I saw a car in the distance during one shot? Hard to tell with the grain.
• Peggy is the real MVP of this whole operation.
• Why are there so many banjos? So many banjos.

It’s a short movie, which is a blessing. If it were two hours long, it would be a nightmare. At its current length, it’s just a weird little curiosity from a time when movies didn't know the rules yet.

Is it a masterpiece? Absolutely not. It’s barely a movie. But I had a good time laughing at the logic of it all.

If you’re bored on a Sunday and want to see a cowboy movie that is also a jazz concert, this is your lucky day. Otherwise, you might want to stick to The Three Musketeers or something with a bit more meat on the bones.

Anyway, that’s Pardon My Gun. It’s messy, the sound is scratchy, and the plot is thin as paper. But I’d take this over a boring, perfect modern movie any day. At least it has character.